Most confusion about the recording world comes from job titles that sound similar and overlap in practice. Here is what each role actually does on a normal project.
The people who make the decisions
Producer
The producer is responsible for what the finished recording sounds like and whether it works. On a music session that can mean arrangement, song structure, choosing takes and hiring players. On a podcast or documentary it usually means the shape of the episode, the running order and what gets cut. A producer is hired for judgement, not for operating equipment.
Engineer
The engineer is responsible for capturing sound properly and, later, for making it sit together. Tracking engineers run the session and place microphones. Mix engineers balance the recorded parts. Mastering engineers make the final file behave consistently across playback systems. On small projects one person often does all three, and the results depend heavily on how much time each stage actually gets.
Talent
Singers, rappers, musicians, voice actors, hosts and interview subjects. They are usually hired per session, per day or per finished piece, and the terms matter as much as the rate: who owns the recording, where it can run, and for how long.
Where the money goes
On an independent project the money usually splits three ways: the room, the people and the post-production. The room is an hourly or day rate. The people are a session fee, a day rate, or a fee plus a share of whatever the finished work earns. Post-production — editing, mixing, mastering, video edit — is quoted per song, per episode or per minute of finished material.
Labels and production companies change the shape of that rather than the substance: they front costs, take a share of the income, and usually keep more control over the release. Independent creators keep the control and carry the cost.
What has actually changed
Equipment is cheap and rooms are not. A capable interface, microphone and laptop cost less than a single day in a commercial studio. What a studio still sells is acoustics, a maintained signal chain and someone who has done this a thousand times. That is why most independent work is now a hybrid: record the vulnerable parts somewhere good, do the rest wherever you are, and hire specialists for the stages where experience is worth more than gear.
How to use this
When you brief someone, name the role you actually need. "I need a producer" and "I need an engineer" send your project in very different directions. If you are unsure which one you need, describe the outcome you want and let the person tell you which part of it they do.